There has been a 'significant' increase in the number of complaints against councillors at Warwickshire County Council (WCC), a freedom of information request has revealed.

Figures released this autumn show some 23 complaints have been made against Shire Hall members since the May 2025 local elections.

In the same period last year, there were just four.

Of those 23, all but four were against Reform UK councillors.

The May 2025 elections saw Reform take almost every single seat in the north of the county, with the party taking a minority lead at WCC.

Previously the local authority had been run by a huge Conservative majority.

The FOI request also revealed all but one of the complaints were made by members of the public. The other was made by a fellow councillor.

Five related to social media use.

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But only nine had led to an investigation at the date of the request.

The request did not say how many had been upheld, nor what the other 18 complaints referred to.

In 2024, all four of the complaints were made by members of the public, but none related to social media use.

Speaking at Kenilworth Town Council's December meeting, Cllr Richard Dickson - also a county councillor - said: "There has been a significant increase in the number of complaints that have been made about the conduct of councillors at county council. 

"It is a note to self that we have all signed up to a code of conduct as councillors."

The Most Complaints?

WCC refused to respond to the question of which councillor had received the most complaints.

The council said: "Councillors who have had a code of conduct complaint made against them would have a reasonable expectation that their name would not be disclosed given that the council's procedure for investigating code of conduct complaints does not say that such information will be made public.

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"If the council was to disclose the names of councillors who have been subject to a complaint without providing proper context or background to the complaint, it may lead to the inference of wrongdoing where it does not exist, such as in cases where a code of conduct complaint was made but not upheld, which may include incidences of vexatious or spurious complaints. 

"This in turn could lead to unjustified reputational damage which would likely cause distress to the councillors."

Warwickshire County Council has been approached for comment.